Although thumbnail images enable users to quickly browse many images, the process of reducing the size of an original image to produce a thumbnail image typically removes local features of the original image. As a result, the appearance of a thumbnail image oftentimes does not reveal the contents or quality of the corresponding original image, making browsing with standard thumbnails error-prone and inefficient.
Some visual search approaches address this problem by synthesizing non-photorealistic thumbnails that enhance the visibility of selected features of the original images. In one such approach, non-salient regions (e.g., the background regions) are cropped from an original image and a thumbnail image is produced from the resulting cropped regions. In another approach, a thumbnail version of an original image is generated with selected “relevant” elements that are emphasized (e.g., larger or bolder font and more saturated colorfulness) in relation to other elements to provide cues that aid the user in identifying or classifying the original image.
What are needed are apparatus and methods of producing photorealistic image thumbnails that provide improved representations of the quality of the corresponding original images.